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Monday, November 5, 2012

Author Kinley Baker

Thank
you for allowing me to visit again! I’m really excited to be here to talk a
little more about Denied. In the first book in the Shadowed Love Series, the
heroine is a Healer. In the second book, Tabitha is a Warrior with a will to
fight. She possesses deadly precision with a blade.

In
all honesty, I am completely jealous of the heroine from Denied. She gets to be
hardcore, and I’ve always wanted to be hardcore. She gets to swing a blade, but
unlike me, she actually knows what she’s doing. When she steps forward, other
people step back (well, eventually… once they give credit to her mad skills),
and when I step forward no one moves!

I
am not intimidating at all, which has always completely disheartened me. So I
had to write Tabitha because she is everything that I wish I could be.
Stronger, faster, smarter, with a bigger heart.

Writing
different kinds of characters is very important to me. Jessa from Ruined is
very strong in her own way. Tabitha from Denied has a Warrior’s heart. I love
it! I have more of a bunny’s heart. But I firmly believe that lots of women are
born with the desire to serve and protect and they don’t get enough attention.

Tabitha’s
fierce desire to protect the kingdom defines her. When she clashes with Caleb,
it’s a battle to the very finish. Caleb comes from a culture where women are
revered above all else, but he comes to realize that while they were revered,
they were also coddled. They weren’t given the same opportunities as men.

In
Tabitha’s kingdom, women don’t fight either. She battles for her right to be
the first female guard in the kingdom. War comes to them, and they’re forced to
fight together to protect everyone.

I
love an awesome female fighter in a heroine. Tabitha is completely opposite
from Jessa, but they both serve in their own ways. Next up is Arianna. She’s a
spoiled princess with a wicked sense of humor. She tries to find her own way in
a world that already rolled out a path for her.

I
hope you enjoy the stories and keep fighting the good fight in your own lives.

Thanks for stopping by again, Kinley!

When invaders brutally massacred the women and children of the Varner, Caleb witnessed loss and destruction on a scale few can comprehend. As the leader of a race on the brink of extinction, his only hope for survival is gaining acceptance into the Shadow Shifter Kingdom. Struggling with new customs, he meets Tabitha, a woman who challenges his limits.

Refused the right to join the king’s guard because of her gender, Tabitha must be stronger than the men to prove she deserves to be the first accepted female Warrior in the kingdom. She believes Caleb will help improve her abilities, until she learns her goals conflict with the foundation of his culture.

When the realm is attacked, Tabitha and Caleb must come together not only to fight, but to find the strength to win against an evil with the potential to destroy everything they revere most--including each other.

Right
before entering the next clearing, Caleb caught a flash of color contrasting
against the green. He paused, moving aside a few leaves so he could peer
through the opening. His attention caught on a tantalizing sight.

A
woman moved in a dance of lethal grace with her eyes closed. She swung her
blade with the skill of someone long trained. Challenging only the air around
her, it was clear she strived to improve her form.

Her
beauty was only enhanced by her bare, capable arms. The sleeveless shirt and
pants she wore were nothing like the robes of the Shadow Shifters’ traditions.
Her biceps and triceps flexed, illuminating well-formed muscles.

Amusement
slid through him. This was the first time he’d ever seen a woman with a blade.
And he couldn’t help but admire her. Part of him knew he should admire no
female other than his aroha, his
fated mate. But the other part of him was intrigued by this display of warrior
patience.

The
women of his people had never been trained in battle. It was Caleb who had
failed to protect them. The female in front of him didn’t look like she needed
protection, and the concept baffled him.

A
man should always stand between a woman and a fight. And if they failed to
protect as Caleb had his own people, then the man should carry that weight
around forever, and the guilt, just as he did.

Need
for redemption soaked into his veins. Perhaps he could help this female improve
her form to make up for his other failures.

“You’re
dropping your left side,” he said, moving out from behind his cover.

Her
head whipped around, her sword following with force. The very tip aimed toward
his heart. Five feet separated him from the lethal point. He was not yet in
danger so his gaze trailed from the sharp blade to connect with her gaze.

Honey-colored
eyes clashed with his. Awareness shot through him. He did his best to hide his
response. His entire world shifted, the foundation reforming in the blink of a
second. The change. The moment every man of the Varner desired. The finding. Of
the one woman meant to be his mate.

How
many times had he imagined this moment?

The
warrior woman was his aroha. His body
pulsed to life. For the first time his lust awakened in response to another,
just as the old tales stated. His muscles tensed, everything inside him urging
him to act, urging him to brand. He was ready to make her his.

The
fire in her eyes held him back. As well as the vivid distinction that this
woman with a sword was far from a delicate female of the Varner. From his
experience the past two years and the difficulty of fumbling his way through
foreign cultures for the same length of time, he knew it was better to keep his
revelation to himself. For now. She might not sense the connection like he
could, like the women of the Varner had been able to.

His
fascination overwhelmed the new ache in his groin. She was extraordinary. He’d
never seen another woman like her. Fierce and strong with steel in her gaze.
Beautiful, mighty . . . his. The core of him roared that this miraculous
creature belonged to him.

“Who
are you?” She jabbed her blade forward an inch.

He
barely kept from smiling at her demand. “You’re dropping your left side when
you turn.”

Her
chin jutted up. “Are you such a fine warrior that you feel yourself worthy of
dispensing unsought advice?”

“Some
would say.” He moved closer to her.

She
tensed, but didn’t attack. Perhaps it was the foot and inches of his height
advantage that stalled her.

The
sun shining through the trees bestowed a glow off her light brown hair, giving
her an ethereal aura. Strong features curved with womanhood invited him to
touch.

His
hand almost reached toward her before he stopped himself.

Every
inch of him yearned to claim his woman, his destined mate, his aroha.

His
fingers ached to touch her and make sure she was real. Even if it was only to
correct her sword form. Could he really have found the woman he’d searched for
all of his adulthood after thirty-three years of living? He needed to brush her
skin and make sure he wasn’t fantasizing. Although he knew this must be real
because he had never imagined a woman like her.

He
closed the distance between them.

“What
are you doing?”

“Showing
you how to keep your side up.”

After
hesitating, she finally lowered her blade. “They say we aren’t supposed to
speak with men from the Varner. The villagers call you giants.”

“We
aren’t much different from you. And I’ve never seen a female Shadow Shifter
train with a sword. I don’t think you’re a woman who abides by the rules.”

Was
that a flush in her cheeks? He moved around to direct her arm. When he hovered
near her, his front almost touching her back, she glanced over her shoulder
warily. He kept himself far enough away so she couldn’t feel the press of his
male interest. He ignored the flustered feeling inching up his spine. He’d
never been snared by a woman’s scent.

He
wanted to inhale her natural fragrance and brand it to his memory. In this open
area near the forest where so many aromas mingled, hers stood out—a citrus
blend of foreign fruit mixed with the spicy scent of flesh dampened from
exertion.

His
fingers closed over her grip on the blade. He showed her how to turn without
dropping her side.

“Perfect,”
he said, unsure if he meant the improvement in her form or the feel of her soft
flesh against his roughened palm. He freed her with reluctance.

With
a little space between them, she tried again, flawlessly turning.

She
frowned. “Thank you.”

“I
am impressed by your skill.”

“It’s
not enough.”

About
the Author:

Kinley Baker is the author of the
fantasy romance series, Shadowed Love. She read her first romance at the age of
thirteen and immediately fell in love with the hero and the genre.

She lives with her husband, Benjamin,
and her dog, Joker, in the Pacific Northwest. Ruined, Denied, and Freed are all
available now from Crescent Moon Press.

Look for a new paranormal romance series
in 2013. As a firm supporter of all supernatural lifestyles, she writes
fantasy, paranormal, and futuristic romances.

Hidden Senses Trilogy Book II

Hidden Senses Trilogy Book III

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About Me

The short version is: I never sleep, live on coffee and take exhausted to new levels.
The 'official' bio reads something like this:
Jacqueline Paige lives in Ontario in a small town that’s part of the popular Georgian Triangle area. No one has ever heard of Stayner, so she usually tells people she lives “near Collingwood” and no, she doesn’t ski at Blue Mountain or at all, in fact she’s not even fond of snow.
www.jacqpaige.webs.com